Page 76 of Texas Hold Em'
Brody sat back on his heels and wiped sweat from his brow while Carrie helped me sit up. She wrapped her arms around my neck and held my head to her chest for a fierce hug, not realizing she was practically smothering me. Brody chuckled and she took off into the kitchen, saying she was going to get me some water.
“She cares about you,” Brody said. “She was a rock star tonight. And a good actress. Although I think her genuine fear is what made the whole thing so convincing. Caroline bought it hook, line, and sinker. We’re on for tomorrow night.”
I rubbed at my throat and tried to sound more enthusiastic than I felt. The last thing I wanted was another fight. “Great.”
“You should consider sitting it out. Tonight… tonight was fucked up,” Brody said.
“I’ll have plenty of time to sit around after Bates is dead.”
“Fair enough.”
Carrie returned with a glass of water and both Brody and I fell quiet. She knelt beside me and rubbed her hands on her thighs. “So how did you guys pull it off?”
Neither Brody nor I looked at each other.
She frowned. “Guys? Are you seriously not going to tell me?”
Brody pushed to his feet. “I’m going to crash on the couch in caseyou need me tonight, Tex. We should wrap those ribs of yours first and then you should rest.”
Carrie looked back and forth between us as he helped me to my feet. I was unsteady but only for a few short seconds until I got my bearings and the dizziness passed. My cracked rib hurt like hell, but the pain in my head already seemed to be getting better.
Brody announced that he was going to grab his first-aid kit from his truck, and when he left, I had Carrie help me out into the kitchen, where she opened the door to the pit and watched me skeptically while I lit a cigarette.
“You have a serious problem,” she said. “You just died. Like, literally, you were dead, and now you’re going to fill your lungs with that shit?”
I blew smoke. “Yep.”
“Tex.”
“Carrie.”
The corner of her mouth twitched and her eyes sparkled. She was hiding a smile. “You’re impossible.”
“And here I thought opposites were supposed to attract.”
“I’m not nearly as stubborn as you are.”
I took a drag. “If you say so.”
She smiled in earnest and stepped in close, letting me drape an arm over her shoulders. I no longer needed to lean on her. My head was on straight and the pain in my ribs was tolerable.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she whispered.
With her holding on to me like this, so was I. It would have been a terrible shame to miss this.
“Me too.” She held me tighter. I rested my head on her cheek. “Do you think we have time to shower, or will Brody have my head?”
She looked at all the blood on us. “I think we can swing it. Maybe I can even talk him into changing the sheets on the bed for us.”
“You do that, and I’ll start the shower.”
She stretched to the tips of her toes to give me a kiss after I put out my cigarette. I closed the door to the pit behind us once inside, and I moved down the hall to the bathroom while she went to Brody, whowas unpacking his first-aid kit on my coffee table. Their voices were muted by the shower once I turned it on, and I gingerly stripped out of my boxers, minding my aching rib.
When I passed in front of the mirror to get into the shower, my own reflection made me do a double take. I was covered in blood. The fake shit was convincing, I had to admit. It looked real. Clumps of it had begun to dry on my chest, right where Carrie had made the wound with her makeup products. I reached up and smeared my hand through it, not liking how real it looked. It reminded me of the night William died. The makeup wiped away and left a red smear across my skin.
I started to itch. I needed to get this shit off.
The shower was so hot it nearly scalded my skin, but it made me feel closer to being clean. I stood under the water with my eyes closed and let it hit my face. I hung my head and let it run off my nose as I filled my lungs with air.
